Wilson faces trial for injuring baby's eyes, limbs

Wednesday

May 1, 2013 at 8:27 AMMay 1, 2013 at 8:28 AM

By Don Reid

dwreid@aol.com

COLDWATER — As the sole caregiver for her baby, Christine Wilson, 28, was the only one who could have been responsible for injuries to the little girl, Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Valerie White argued during a preliminary exam Tuesday.

After hearing from a medical expert, Branch County District Judge Brent Weigle agreed there was enough probable cause to bind Wilson, of Bronson, over to face trial on two counts of first degree felony child abuse — life felonies.

Dr. Bethany Mohr testified she was asked to examine then 7-month-old Payton Wilson in September 2010 at the Mott Children’s Hospital at University of Michigan Medical Center Ann Arbor, where the mother brought the child for treatment of her eyes.

The eyes were swollen and draining, but doctors who first saw the baby in July through August could not find any medical reason why. Even when released from the hospital with improvements, the mother had the baby right back in with the eye problems.

"There was no medical diagnosis to explain the condition. All testing was negative," Mohr stated.

The child abuse expert testified the mother gave lots of excuses why the eyes had problems, but "they did not make medical of scientific sense."

Mohr suggested the mother may have suffered from what used to be known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy. This syndrome almost always involves a mother abusing her child by seeking unneeded medical attention.

The condition is no longer recognized as being medical and is now called medical child abuse — marked by a caregiver fabricating or inducing a medical problem that causes the need for medical care.

The pediatrician said, "The only thing that made sense was someone putting something in the baby’s eyes — a caustic substance. The baby did not injure herself and all other reasons were excluded."

Mohr had no idea what that substance was, but said it created corneal scarring.

Further medical scans found that the baby’s left leg was fractured above the knee. She had also sustained a spiral fracture of the lower leg.

While this can occur in younger children when they are walking, Payton Wilson could not walk.

"There is no way for spontaneous bone fractures" to occur, the doctor testified.

When Mohr first examined the little girl, she said the child's fingers on her left hand were swollen "like sausages." This was from a bending or twisting injury that had occurred within seven to 10 days, the doctor said, explaining she came to that conclusion because the injury had not started to heal.

Child Protective Services worker Curt Singer said when he talked to Wilson in 2010 she told him she was Payton's only caregiver.

Questioned by defense attorney Victor Bland, Singer testified she said even when a boyfriend or the child’s father were present she was also there.

Wilson lost custody of the baby in 2010. A request for charges had been made at that time, but they were not filed until after Branch County Prosecutor Ralph Kimble took office in January.Wilson remains free on bond.